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What Are Secateurs And Their Types?

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What Are Secateurs

Secateurs are the common gardening tools, which have a huge cutting blade. They can be used for environment maintenance such as branch pruning, garden pruning, and cleaning.

Specifically, you can use secateurs to prune and shape plants, prune thin parts, remove damaged leaves, and control invasive plants. Also, they can be used to stimulate plant growth, prune vegetables, and harvest green vegetables.

The shape of the blade determines how to hold the secateurs when pruning properly. It is very important to use these tools correctly to save energy and not injure the plant. 

What Are Secateurs
Vine Vineyard Shears via Pixabay

Types of Secateurs

1. Gardening Secateurs

This tool is made according to the principle of ordinary scissors and is equipped with two sharpened blades designed to ensure uneven and accurate plant cut. 

In this case, we are not talking about strong woody shoots but soft stems of herbaceous crops and young green plants not exceeding a diameter of 2 cm.

Sharpening both blades of the secateurs involves strong squeezing of the cut-off shoot. Therefore, when trying to cut out stronger and thicker branches with it, you can cause significant injuries to the plant and reduce the life of the plant itself.

2. Bypass secateurs

Bypass secateurs What Are Secateurs
Bypass secateurs via Pixabay

This type of secateurs is the most common. If the instrument is purchased abroad, you should be guided by the international word “bypass”. There is only one cutting blade, and it is located on the top and has an exact shape. 

When cutting, it slides along the base plate below. In this case, it is necessary to hold the secateurs so that the working surface faces the part of the branch on which you want to get the smoothest and most even cut. 

In other words, it will always be like this to the right of the pruning shear blade. But this is only true if the blade is tightly adjacent to the base plate. 

In general, you can check how carefully the pruner will cut the branches and cut any paper. If this works out, then the tool is done. Bypass secateurs are considered universal, and it is suitable for any branch.

3. Ratchet secateurs

Ratchet secateurs What Are Secateurs

Ratchet secateurs is a device that allows the shaft to rotate in only one direction. When applied to a pruner, this means that the cutting process can be split several times. 

This is what it looks like. Push the pruner handles all the way, and if it fails to cut the branch, the mechanism will return the handles to their original position, but the blade will remain in the position it has reached. 

Therefore, by pressing the second time, or maybe the third or the fourth, it turns out to continue cutting. This will certainly make it easier to work with secateurs, especially when you need to cut through thick shoots. 

To some extent, it is considered a competitor to a garden saw because the branches cut by it can reach a thickness of 3 cm. Such tools become a real item for women or older adults who do not have great physical strength.

4. Anvil secateurs

Wolf Garten RS2500 Anvil Secateurs What Are Secateurs
Wolf Garten RS2500 Anvil Secateurs via Amazon

This tool has only the upper cutting plate sharpened, but, unlike the bypass secateurs, its lower stop is represented by an expanded plate. The anvil is located perpendicular to the cutting line. 

During operation, such a pruner does not cut the stem but cuts the branch, carrying out the procedure according to the guillotine principle. But cope well with shoots 3 cm thick.

After dissecting the shoot, the upper blade descends directly onto the anvil so that the lower stop in high-quality models is not made of metal that can damage the cutting canvas but is made of softer plastic. 

Such an anvil can either have a small hole into which the upper blade fits or a ribbed support platform.

5. Grafting secateurs

Grafting secateurs What Are Secateurs
Grafting secateurs via Amazon.com

The model on the store counter that immediately catches the eye due to the unusual shape of the blade is the grafting secateurs. As the name implies, such a pruner is not intended to perform plant pruning but to simplify the procedure for grafting them as much as possible.

When using grafting secateurs, the gardener will achieve a one hundred percent graft survival rate since this innovative device allows you to get identical cuts on the scion and rootstock. 

The grafting secateurs are usually supplemented with several attachments that allow for different types of grafting. You can choose the optimal blade for shoots of different thicknesses and degrees of lignification.

6. Plane pruner

Plane pruner What Are Secateurs
Plane pruner via Aliexpress

The plane pruner is recognizable for its moon-shaped blades, offset from each other. It is needed to filigree cut raw wood. Likewise, the blades are arranged according to the “Upper – very sharp, lower – obtuse support” system.

They complement each other, while the bottom maintains the branch and the top does its job. Chick, and you see a clean cut. Sometimes the tool is equipped with a groove where the juice flows, preventing sticking.

7. Secateurs with motor

KOHAM Secateurs with motor What Are Secateurs
KOHAM Secateurs with motor via Amazon.com

Recently, innovative secateurs have appeared that make the work extremely easy when pruning trees. They are battery-powered and use the same operating principle as the bypass models. 

The only difference is that the efforts are made not by hand but by a motor. To cut a branch, place it between the blade and the support plate and press the button.

Manufacturers guarantee that up to 500 cuts can be made on one battery charge, while the maximum branch thickness depends on the pruner model, which can be from 14 to 16 mm.

It is a modern substitute for a traditional tool that can be successfully used to maintain a garden, flower beds, and hedges.

>> Related Post: 12 Popular Cutting Tools for Gardening


Conclusion

Secateurs have commonly used garden tools, which have many advantages. They can assist you in keeping your garden clean and still encourage plant growth. Because they have jagged blades, always keep in mind to be safe when using when.